Uttarakhand forest fire: MI-17 choppers spraying water to douse blaze

Dehradun: After the government last night decided to press two MI-17 helicopters into service as NDRF, SDRF and Army personnel struggled to douse the flames which have claimed six lives and blighted around 1,900 hectares of forests in Uttarakhand, choppers today started spraying waters on the fire.

A total of 1890.79 hectares of green cover have been destroyed this fire season which had an early start on February 2 due to a dry winter.

Chamoli, Pauri, Rudraprayag, Tehri, Uttarkashi, Almora, Pithoragarh and Nainital are the worst-affected districts. While three NDRF teams and one SDRF company are busy dousing the flames in different parts of the state, two IAF choppers have been sent to Nainital and Pauri districts, among the worst hit, to spray water over the burning jungles, Raj Bhawan officials here said.

Enough funds have been made available to all affected districts besides required personnel and equipment to deal with any situation, they said.

"One MI-17 chopper has been stationed at Bhimtal near Nainital right which is being loaded with water collected from the water bodies in the area and begin spraying water over affected areas from tomorrow," Chief Secretary Shatrughna Singh said.

Another IAF chopper sent to Pauri will operate in similar fashion, a Raj Bhawan official said. With forest fires still raging three NDRF teams have been deployed in Almora, Gauchar and Pauri and one team of SDRF in Nainital to extinguish the flames, Principal Conservator of Forest B P Gupta said.

Rudraprayag forest division is also taking help from the army for fire fighting operations especially along the highway, he said.

The casualties due to forest fires, which have spread to sparsely populated remote hill areas, have risen to six with another life claimed in Nainital district on Friday evening. The deceased include three women and a child.

Since the beginning of forest fire season in the state in February, 922 incidents have occurred so far in which seven were injured and 1890.79 hectares of green cover being affected, Gupta told reporters.

Worried over forest fires which are still raging in different parts of the state, Governor K K Paul reviewed the rescue efforts underway via videoconferencing with officials in the field and asked them to speed up their efforts.

NDRF companies assisted by expert teams and locals are conducting fire extinguishing and rescue operations in affected areas of Garhwal and Kumaon regions. IG Sanjay Gunjyal is coordinating with the NDRF, the district magistrates concerned and Principal Conservator of Forest to supervise the rescue operations.